Paris ‘brothel’ renting out sex dolls faces pressure to close amid claims it encourages rape
In 2016, France changed its law on prostitution after years of parliamentary debate to make anyone caught using a sex worker liable for a fine
Barely clothed or naked and perched suggestively on a bed or chair, the plastic dolls on offer in the most controversial “brothel” in Paris have led to accusations that they could encourage rape.
Since February, four silicone figures have been on offer at hourly rates of €89 (US$110) in a discreet flat in the south of the city, far from the historic red-light district around the Pigalle area in the north.
Following complaints from women’s groups and left-wing local lawmakers, the Paris council is set to decide this week whether to close the 21st-century newcomer to the world’s oldest profession.
Xdolls operates from the three-room flat as a games business, leading Communists on the Paris local assembly to ask city authorities to clarify whether the law has been broken.
“[The figures] present a degrading image of women and the noises they make could sound like rape,” the head of the Communist group, Nicolas Bonnet-Oulaldj, told reporters this week, adding that he wanted the business closed.
